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Fairchild supports foster children with donation to Brandon’s Forever Home

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Community Living Services caregiver charged after allegedly sexually assaulting mentally disabled, non-verbal client

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The county Court of Common Pleas won&#8217;t cover the costs of an attempted homicide suspect&#8217;s mental evaluations, a judge ruled Tuesday.</p><p>The ruling from Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas resolves a heated dispute over who was liable for services rendered to Melissa Ann Scholl, who was represented by the county public defender&#8217;s office after she was charged in December with two counts of attempted homicide in a disturbing incident at a local bus company.</p><p>Police said Scholl tried to suffocate herself and her two children in a murder-suicide attempt outside Williams Bus Line on Blackman Street. A bus driver intervened when he happened upon Scholl, who was sitting in her car with a garden hose strung between the exhaust pipe and the passenger area and her children, ages 5 and 7, in the back seat.</p><p>Scholl, 32, of Wilkes-Barre, was evaluated by Drs. Richard Fischbein and Michael Church following her arrest, according to court documents.</p><p>In a court filing earlier this month, Chief Public Defender Steven M. Greenwald asked to have Scholl&#8217;s mental evaluations paid for by the court after attorney Larry Kansky began representing her privately. Greenwald said Kansky refused to pay for the evaluations, which totalled nearly $6,000.</p><p>&#8220;In an effort to ensure payment of those invoices, and to properly protect the taxpayer-funded budget of the Luzerne County Public Defender&#8217;s Office, and inasmuch as attorney Kansky apparently refuses to approach the court for payment of the outstanding invoices, in spite of the fact he had demanded the work product, petitioner now requests this honorable court to pay the invoices,&#8221; Greenwald wrote.</p><p>Kansky argued it was the public defender&#8217;s office who was legally obligated to pay the costs since they were the ones who hired the doctors.</p><p>Messages left Wednesday for Greenwald and Kansky were not immediately returned.</p><p>Scholl, meanwhile, remains jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility as she awaits trial.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL121015scholl1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scholl, shown here prior to her arraignment in December, is accused of trying to murder her two young children. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL121015scholl1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scholl, shown here prior to her arraignment in December, is accused of trying to murder her two young children. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Judge: Court won’t cover psychological fees for mother accused of trying to kill her kids